The 6 Qualities of Innovation By Karen Thoreson Ever wonder why some cities seem to win lots of awards— or are constantly showcased as having outstanding programs? Over the last five years, the Alliance for Innovation and Arizona State University’s School of Public Affairs have studied hundreds of local governments that won national, state, or local awards, seeking to find out if there were some common denominators that these lauded organizations shared. This study revealed six qualities of innovation. Of course, sustained innovation in any organization requires a commitment to change, a process to sustain change, intent to implement change, and the people to carry out change. Still, there are certain attributes that make organizational innovation more likely. 1. Inclusive Leadership “Never before in history has innovation offered promise of so much to so many in so short a time.” –BILL GATES Not surprisingly, having a key leader (or leaders) driving change within the organization makes a dramatic difference. That leader could be the manager, or it might be a key elected official or the whole executive team. The important thing is not necessarily who the leader is, but the type of leadership that person or group embodies. Leaders in innovative organizations are visionary, inclusive, proactive, and organization-centered, rather than leadercentered. These leaders promote innovation by working to develop leaders throughout the organization. These are “unselfish” leaders, who share credit, recognize contributions, and make leadership development a higher priority than celebrating a single individual. In his book Good to Great, Jim Collins called this “Level 5” leadership. Organizations that cultivate inclusive, sustained leadership have a head start on producing great results. Although all six qualities of innovation are important, perhaps the most critical is leadership, as it sustains the effort, rightly manages risk, and propels the morale of the group at all levels in order to achieve greater and greater success. 2. Relentless Creativity “Problems cannot be solved by the same kind of thinking that created them.” –ALBERT EINSTEIN While brain science tells us that only about 20 percent of humans regularly think in creative ways, organizations that 30
engage the entire workforce to achieve their potential are able to beat those odds. To harness its employees’ talent, an organization must offer processes and policies that allow employees to give their best while on the job. To do this, you need to create an environment that isn’t satisfied with the status quo. Ask these questions: Could this be better? How have others solved this problem? Is there a different approach that would yield better results? These questions are great starts toward increasing the creativity of your team. Critical to encouraging creativity is allowing for failure— because not all new ideas will work. Organizations need to have some good “failure and risk” conversations in the workplace. This will build employees’ confidence in trying new things, and let them know that their new ideas are welcome. 3. Extensive Internal Collaboration “The secret is to gang up on the problem, rather than each other.” –THOMAS STALLKAMP Over the course of a couple of decades, many local governments have crawled out of their silos and begun to see the value of working in cross-functional teams. In successful innovative groups, we see a real disrespect for silos. Instead, they have non-hierarchal teams charged with solving problems outside of their individual expertise—because those employees can bring fresh ideas and help rethink a problem or challenge. The organization that identifies a problem in public works, for instance, will experience a direct benefit in bringing in non-public works staff to brainstorm solutions. It is surprising how often a diverse team of insiders and outsiders can collectively review, ask probing questions, make suggestions, and implement change.
ARENS ENGINEERING municipal engineering water & wastewater engineering storm drainage - municipal streets Vernon Arens, PE 230 Capitol St. j Yankton, SD j 57078 605-665-2002 j Fax 605-260-2140 arenseng@iw.net
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